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What I Learned in South Africa

I’m back from South Africa!! And boy, do I have a lot to share with you. So, I thought I’d pack the biggest insights I received into one video, and share them with you all at once. I’ve covered topics such as

Why do people trophy hunt amazing animals?

What we can learn from South Africans about healing deep wounds

My own, massive leveling up of my Abundance Vibe

So, watch today’s video and prepare to be bombarded with awesomeness! Yay!

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Coaching Call #224 is out! The topic of this week’s call is: Are Her Current Manifestations Leading Her to What She Wants?

This caller feels struck both professionally and personally. She understands LOA but things aren’t manifesting the way she thinks they should. She feels she’s made some movement towards what she wants but she’s just not sure where she’s heading or if where she’s going will give her everything that she wants. She’s experiencing precursors but what do they actually mean, and how does she know what they are leading her to?

How can she calm her mind when her fears about where her reality is heading, pop into her head? Are the precursors she’s experiencing important in the progression of a manifestation and what are they showing her? What is the progression of a manifestation anyhow, and what does she need to do so that she can line up her energy with what she wants?

If these are questions you’ve asked yourself and you want to learn more, then this call is for you.

Today’s Video

Transcript

I’ve just got back from one of the most spiritual trips of my entire life. I was in the South African bush for an entire week and as there were so many learnings, so many aha moments, so much healing, I decided to make a video and share some of the most important aha moments that I had while I was there. It’s a little bit of a mish-mash today, no specific topic, just a whole bunch of things thrown in together; but I think you will enjoy it

Again, this trip to South Africa was one of the most spiritual experiences of my entire life. As you know I’ve spent quite a bit of time down in Peru where I’ve done Ayahuasca and San Pedro ceremonies, and those were all amazing and mind blowing, and I’ll continue to go back as long as they continue to serve me. This trip to South Africa, though, was in a completely different category. I will try and describe what I experienced, but I’m finding as I’m trying to tell people what I experienced, words are completely failing me. You’ll have to listen for the energy that is being transmitted here, because it’s like somebody saying to you, “Well I’ve discovered it’s really about loving myself,” to which you might reply “Duh!” But they might have understood the concept of self-love on a completely different level. Words cannot connote the different levels at which we can understand something, so please keep that in mind.

The energy of South Africa

The first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane in Johannesburg was that I was instantly hit with an energy that was so humbling, so amazing, and so raw. This was my first time on the African continent as a whole, so I can only really speak about what I experienced in South Africa and about where I was. To me, it had this old, this origin energy flavor to it (this is how I would describe it). This was different to what I might have expected it to be, if I’d allowed myself to have an expectation. Although, I always do my best not to have any expectations when I go on trips like this, except for the fact that I think it’s going to be awesome; and it always is. The energy wasn’t particularly soothing; it was actually quite raw, which makes sense, because it’s the raw building block energy of creation from what I felt. It has a tendency, I think, to shake things up and to bring things up. It can go into a positive or negative direction, but it’s definitely going to do something, because there’s a lot of it.

The healing in South Africa

I found that a lot of people were getting triggered in different ways; a lot of people were being opened up in different ways. There was also a tremendous amount of healing going on and I found myself interacting in a very child-like way a lot of the time. I was very humbled. I felt I was a baby, like I didn’t really know anything; I was just observing, asking questions and doing my best to take it all in. The first couple of days I was there, my brain was having a hard time wrapping itself around the fact that I was even there, and that I was seeing what I was seeing, and experiencing what I was experiencing. It was phenomenal. One of the things that I noticed straightaway was just how open, how friendly and how open-hearted all the locals were, which was absolutely incredible! I was having a conversation with a black South African, who was very gracious and answered all of my questions. I said to him that I wouldn’t blame them if when we got off the plane at the airport, if they all kicked us back on the plane and told us how we foreigners didn’t get to come here anymore; that they were sick of our shit. Or tell us to get out because we’ve done enough damage. But they don’t. When we talked about it, the thing that I noticed was how there has been such a tremendous amount of healing that has happened in a very short amount of time in South Africa.

Apartheid didn’t end that long ago, and people are very willing to talk to you about it and to give you their impressions. There is so much information that we didn’t get in the media, so much that we were not told about. When you go there and talk to people you get an impression about what it was really like. People were living in a war zone for a very long time, never knowing if they were going to get shot in the street. They had to walk over bodies, they had to flee and they were in a constant state of fear. They’ve gone from that to a tremendous amount of healing in a short amount of time; just a couple of decades. It doesn’t mean there are no problems left in South Africa, but the healing is so apparent everywhere you go. After talking to people and reading the energy of it and bouncing some of my impressions off of the locals, I came to the conclusion that a big part of this healing has been facilitate by the fact that South Africans (and I’m told Africans as a whole), are people who don’t run away from issues; they’d rather face them. I could certainly see that. There was nothing being brushed under the carpet and nobody was talking about anything in an accusatory sort of way, even though they were talking about horrific things. There weren’t accusations; it was more about allowing it to bubble up and allowing it to come out. It was more of a recognition of things that had happened. Yes these things were terrible, but they always talked about them from a willingness to heal, which was absolutely phenomenal to witness; it was mind blowing to witness. To be able to see people who are so willing to step into healing, so willing to face their shit, to own their shit (both white and black South Africans), was an incredible display of what is possible when people open themselves up to healing and face something instead of running away.

There is a tremendous amount that can be learned by going to South Africa, and one of the biggest conversations that I kept having with people was that we shouldn’t go to Africa to try and fix them. We can help, but if we want to help, we should ask people what it is they need from us, and then we give them that. Don’t just arrogantly go over there and spread your help around, regardless of whether it’s wanted or needed, or not. I think we should stop going over to Africa to try and fix it; we should go to Africa to learn, because there is a tremendous amount we can learn there.

The bush and the animals

The second thing that I noticed was when I was in the bush – I am going to try and say that without giggling! I have been practicing, but my inner thirteen year old with the wicked sense of humor wants to giggle at that word; every time!! When we were in the bush and we were able to interact and view animals like Lions (both female and male), Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras, Impalas, Rhinos (a whole family of Rhinos!), Buffaloes, Wildebeests, Cheetahs; so many animals! I noticed how we got hit with this absolute magnificence and this incredible power that you don’t tend to connect with when you see an animal like this in a zoo or in some kind of enclosure. I think they have to be in their natural habitat, they have to be in their power for us to really feel this. One of the first insights I had when a Bull Elephant turned towards me and looked me straight in the eye, and I was hit with all that energy, was that I suddenly understood why people kill animals like this. I understood why trophy hunters go into the bush. I will be totally honest with you, I haven’t gotten past my judgment of trophy hunters yet, there’s still a little bit of a twinge still in there when I think about them, but I am working on it. I now understand why people kill animals like this, because if someone has any unworthiness in them, if they have a lot of unworthiness in them and they are faced with such power, such beauty, such magnificence, they are either going to shift up into that magnificence or they are going to try to crush it. It is my opinion in the way that I read the energy that people who look at an animal like this and they think they have to kill him is that they are trying to conquer that, they are trying to own that, because they don’t feel they have it in themselves. And they have to feel that way to a large enough degree to create that kind of reaction, but to a stubborn enough degree they won’t allow themselves to be uplifted by these animals.

I was struck by these animals, just as I was with the South African people with their willingness to step into healing again and again. Make no mistake about it; these animals don’t have to show themselves to humans. We were in a giant private animal reserve, about 150 thousand acres, so they have plenty of space to go to; they don’t need to be where we were. They have all kinds of warning systems, because the birds and the prey animals warn each other, so they knew where we were and they knew we were there. They don’t ever have to be where we are, they could avoid us, no problem; and yet they don’t. They show up again and again and again and allow us to see them. I sent energy to every single animal that I saw. I sent an energy of gratitude, and I got a few “you’re welcomes” back! I became very aware that it was a voluntary thing from them to let us see them, an act of absolute grace. Again, we haven’t made it easy for them to connect with us. We’ve been quite naughty in hunting animals, hunting many of them into extinction, or near extinction, and yet they continue to show up for us, to mirror back to us our humanity (or lack thereof), and they will continue to do that until we get it. I was in absolute awe, so appreciative of these animals and their willingness, again, to help us in our healing, that at times I was just tearing up with gratitude and appreciation, while at the same time my mind was trying to wrap itself around what I was actually seeing. OH MY GOD; that’s all I can say! If you get a chance to go on Safari in Africa, South Africa or in any of the surrounding countries, do it, do it, do it. I can’t recommend it highly enough. I’m definitely going back.

My personal aha moment about abundance

The final big moment of clarity that I want to share with you guys is one that was very personal for me and one that was my “aha” moment. It is to do with abundance. I was able to level up in a massive way about abundance and it happened in the most amazing way! Yes, the Universe is just the greatest!

I am a person who is very social; I’m very extroverted a lot of the time; until I’m not. When I’m not, I need time to come back in and cocoon a little bit, and I need a little bit of solitary time where I can get quite introverted. At one point, there was so much bombarding me and so much going on that I decided I needed some time to process; I needed some time to be alone. Instead of joining the group and going out with them, I decided I would spend a few hours by myself. Everybody left for an excursion and I stayed behind; and here’s what happened: Instead of getting up at 5:30 in the morning and going out to the bush, I slept until 7:30, which normally isn’t a sleeping-in time for me, but it was out there, because you have to go out before it gets too hot. That morning, I had a private 5 star chef cook breakfast, just for me. I had a private butler, who was there just for me, and a house manager there, just for me. There were a whole bunch of other staff taking care of the place, and it felt a little bit like it was all just for me; it was amazing.

I will be really honest with you, warts and all. The day before, when I’d made the decision I wasn’t going to go on the excursion the next morning, the chef came up to me and asked me what I’d like to eat in the morning. I swear to god you guys, something like this actually came out of my mouth: “Don’t worry, I don’t want to cause a fuss, just show me where the cereal is, I’ll sit in the corner and I’ll sadly eat my cereal alone!!” I didn’t really say that last bit like that; it was something more along the lines of, “Oh just something simple, you don’t have to make a fuss for me.”

He looked at me with a confused look and told me that he was a 5 star chef so could I just let him do his thing?! When he reacted this way, it was sort of like being hit in the back of the head with a frying pan and I thought “what am I doing?! Wait…what?! Why am I not just letting this in?” It really opened my eyes, so I proceeded to challenge him and tell him all the stuff I didn’t like and all the stuff I did like. The next morning he made me a magnificent breakfast and I sat there allowing these people to support me and to serve me, not because I needed them to, and not because I was overwhelmed and couldn’t take it and I’d thankfully had somebody to delegate to, but because it was so joyful for me and it was also their joy and their pleasure to support me. Something opened up within me, on a level that I had not reached before, where I let a whole new level of support in.

At night, sitting having dinner with everyone and with the staff, we always talked about our magic moments, like the barbeques we’d eaten out in the bush, the 5 or 6 star service and the African sunset, which was magnificent. But for me, what I had found magical on that day, was this feeling of being so supported by people whose joy it was to support others and me realizing it’s not decadent to have a private chef, or a butler, or to have people catering just to you. It’s not something you have to justify by saying “I need this”, it’s actually a beautiful dance when they are doing something that brings them joy. For these guys, it’s to create peak experiences for people, and to fulfil their every wish. When they are doing that, when they are living in their joy, it supports me living in my joy and supports me in providing my value in the way that I can. It becomes this beautiful symbiotic dance, instead of when I’m paying somebody to do my laundry for me and maybe this person doesn’t want to do it. Taking it completely out of that paradigm into allowing people whose joy it is to support you, and in doing so it frees you up to live in your joy.

Words fail me here because it’s not like I didn’t know that before, but I got it on a completely different level. It just opened me up; it opened up my heart and I ended up crying and thanking the staff for being my teachers and showing me what it’s like to be supported by people who adore doing that, and they ended up crying as well… It was a beautiful moment! There was so much appreciation going on and so much celebrating going on; it was incredibly healing.

Flowing energy to my business

I reached this whole new level of abundance, along with tons of aha moments about my business, about flowing energy in different ways into my business, and the next steps to come which, up till now, I’ve been struggling with. Those of you who have been with me for a long time know that I have been announcing how I am going to be doing this, and then announcing something else, and then… no wait I’m going to do that… and then nothing shows up. It’s because there was a lack of clarity and a lot of energy rushing into a direction that I wasn’t yet quite open to. I think I opened up a lot of that on this trip, so there is some good stuff coming your way. It’s actually all going to come now! I had a lot of insights and did a lot meditation, so it’s time now. I’m really excited about what’s to come.

#bushwitches

Guys, honestly I cannot recommend enough taking a trip like this if you ever get a chance to. I was in the Madikwe Reserve area, in a resort called the Morukuru Resort which I cannot recommend highly enough. These people really, really know what they’re doing. I was there with a group of 9 other magnificent women and we called ourselves “The Bush Witches!” (#bushwitches!!) We were incredibly good at manifesting! We would go out into the bush with the game viewer, this is what the open jeeps are called, and we would talk about some animal, it didn’t matter what it was, even something obscure, and within minutes that animal would show up! We saw this happen again and again. We were that good at manifesting animals that even the Guides and the Trackers were saying how this wasn’t normal and telling us how our group was…holy crap!! (Of course, we were!) The whole thing just escalated and escalated; it just got better and better. We were driving through the bush and suddenly there was a Cheetah just sitting there waiting for us to look at it. We’d turn another corner and there was a pride of female lions who had just taken down a Giraffe and we were getting to watch them, actually gorging themselves on this Giraffe, which is not something you get to see often. Even the Trackers were taking selfies with the lions (from a safe distance)!

Bottom Line

I do hope I can put together a little video with some of the footage and the pictures that we took, but I’m waiting on other people to share their pictures with me. I’m not a good photographer which became even more apparent when trying to take pictures of wildlife. I simply allowed myself to experience what was happening, while other people took the pictures. They’ve promised to share those pictures with me, so when they do, I will share them with you, as I know a lot of you are interested in seeing them. Hopefully, I’ll be able to convey more of this energy from this (honestly) life-changingly awesome trip. Again, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Hopefully, even if you don’t end up to going to Africa, you’ve been inspired by me sharing it, you’ve learnt a few things and you’ve had a few aha moments today from this video. I know I threw a lot at you but I just wanted to give it all to you, so there you go! Ha.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing your light to the world. You guys are awesome; you don’t know just how awesome you are!

Will be uploading it, and the transcript for yesterday’s post this weekend, ex-mopeychild. Sorry for the delay, but when I make videos in real time, instead of ahead of schedule, we have to wait. And then I have to find the time to upload it all.

Hey Melody
What an amazing time this must have been for you. This is that type of experience that can really really cause us to level up and have massive insights. I have had those types of experiences before and they are great–if I had my choice I would always opt for these types of quantum leaps rather than when the really crappy stuff happens 😉

Edelweiss

September 30, 2016

Wow, makes me so homesick! South Africa has the friendliest people and is magnificent and awe-inspiring. Living abroad has made me appreciate it more than I ever did living there. Thanks for the reminder!!

You’re not alone, Edelweiss. I met several South Africans who live in another country, and they all expressed the same sentiment: they appreciate their culture and their people so much more when they return. It’s a magnificent country and I’m so glad I popped my Africa cherry with S.A. lol. I’ll definitely be going back!

Hi Melody! Just hoping you aren’t giving up the transcripts altogether? Until I manifest superfast broadband in this beautiful, pollution-free rural area 😉 I’m stuck with 1Mbps which simply doesn’t allow watching video at most times of day.

Looking forward to next time you’re in the UK. Meanwhile, it’s great to see how your life is going these days. 🙂

I’m not. It’s just that I usually shoot the videos ahead of time, and so that gives my V.A. time to transcribe them and me time to upload them. Not so when I do them on the same day that I post. Then there’s a delay. I know there are people who can’t/prefer not to watch videos, and there’s also the deaf community whom I want to respect. So hang in there, I’ll be uploading the transcripts this weekend and will do my best to get ahead of the curve again.

Thank you for your message. I am a South African living in Johannesburg.
It’s wonderful to hear and see others appreciate what SA has to offer. You are so right! As much as what has happened in the past that bears most South Africans shame, we do have so much positivity on our side. We have so many cultures within SA, we even get confused at times, (LOL), but I’m so pleased you noticed and experienced the wonderful blend of friendliness, welcoming smiles and attitude that lives amongst us here in SA.

We do have our share of problems, not entirely dealt with properly, of course, and there is still a massive internal struggle that many of our people need to get past. Yet, we are blessed that we have not had to live through uprisings and wars that many other African countries have had to go through to achieve the independence that Nelson Mandela and his fellow compatriots who made it their life mission to ensure this independence was a peaceful transition.

I live in a country that has a rare and inspiring beauty. If you loved the African sunsets we take for granted, it’s a pity you were not here when our rains come. That raw energy you spoke of, well our thunderstorms are smelled long before the heavens open. The ozone smell from the lightening prior to the rainfall is gives rise to an almost primal flow of feelings.

You are so right, Madikwe Game Reserve is magnificent, and the lodges are warm, decadent and welcoming. You came in the right season too, just before the rains, whilst it is still dry and the animals seek water from specifics watering holes, which makes game viewing so much easier.

Bless you for your positive thoughts and feelings that you’ve chosen to share with your members and followers. It is people like yourself that allows me to give thanks that I am truly blessed and proudly South African.

You got it Colleen! I’ll definitely be back. Thanks so much for sharing. I would’ve loved to see and smell the rain – I was told just how amazing it is, but it’s wasn’t meant to be this time. Well, South Africa had to keep some of its secrets, lol. It’s incentive to come back soon. I loved the country, the people, the energy, all of it. Thank you so much for having me. 🙂

Big smooshy hugs,

Melody

Lori

October 1, 2016

Would love to see a video or pictures from your trip! Your excitement and enthusiasm about your trip, your experiences and insights is contagious! Thank you for this post, I especially loved your honesty about the chef, your reaction and then realization. I love how this works!

Kimberly

October 3, 2016

Hi Melody…I LOVE the analogy you made to the magnificence of the animals in their own element and the trophy hunters who feel the need to take these gorgeous animals from that element. Your act of relaying that story actually helped me understand a past relationship and clear the last bits and pieces of it out of my emotional closet! For several years I dated someone who was an adult child of an alcoholic. He was an avid hunter as well as a trophy hunter. I understand hunting for food, but I have never understood the need to possess a once exquisite animal that has been reduced to only a sad representation hanging on a wall. I used to question him about this but never got a reasonable answer. I have long known he chose to remain a victim, but until today I never understood the trophy hunting. You described it so perfectly – the feeling of inadequacy and the momentary lift of power by killing something so majestic – and suddenly I understand him more than I ever did when we were together. Thank you for sharing the experiences from your trip – and the unintentional coaching!

John Hare

October 3, 2016

Great great video, Melody! Thanks for sharing your insights. I will probably go back and listen to this again. Your account of the opening you had around abundance caused me to tear up a little.

Brilliant experience! And fun recount too. I see the primal, raw energy as being who we really are. Which helped you tap into more of who we really are. I dig your take on trophy hunters too. Still have stuff to clear on them because I get PO’ed when I see/hear of them yet your take makes complete energetic sense. They see what they feel they cannot be, and destroy it. Let’s keep spreading the love and good vibes to help ’em see their wonder.

Thanks for sharing this enlightening post 🙂

Ryan

Jennifer Scott McDiarmid

October 9, 2016

Dear Melody, I love that the experiences you write about inevitably trigger an ‘Ahh, That is what I am holding on to’, realisation. Your insights are so helpful. Next step, to let myself be supported, Ah, umm. That pesky little thing called self worth and deserving! 🙂 Thank you.

Monique

October 12, 2016

Hey Melody, I loved hearing about your trip!! It is my dream to someday go to Africa, I must admit that I envy you just a little, ha! ha! I can’t wait to see pictures!!

Hi Melody, I have loved your videos from Africa and enjoyed hearing about your experiences.

This video has helped me realise that I don’t always allow in assistance from others and that in itself can be lack thinking because people want to help us and share their talents with us. Thanks for the excellent videos!

Jennifer

October 16, 2016

Aahhh!! I got so excited about the Safari just watching this video! I really love connecting with wild animals b/c their energy feels so pure and this video really captured that essence. Would love to see the pictures from the trip Melody! On another note, I’m glad you brought this up b/c how many of us feel awkward or uncomfprtable when we think of someone serving us? Instantly it brings up a twing of guilt or feelings of undeservedness, especially for me b/c I have seen lots of people (including myself) in service type jobs either hating their jobs or being treated poorly. I know personally that giving or serving someone else can be such a joyful experience. receiving gracefully allows others to experience the joy of giving too.